Ball dogs return to Sao Paulo

Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Pablo Cuevas may have won their semifinal matches on Saturday to advance to the Brasil Open final, but perhaps the biggest hit of the tournament that day were the ball dogs.

A year after the balldogs made their debut in Sao Paulo, two non-profit dog shelters, Project Second Chance and Dogs Without Owners showcased six dogs this year in hopes of finding owners to adopt them.

Arlete, Cindy, Mia, Nanda, Ovelha and Pretinha chased balls around the red clay for Brazilian player Marcelo Demoliner and coach Joao Zwetsch (who works with Thomaz Bellucci and Thiago Monteiro). While they weren’t standing guard during either of the day's semifinals, the canines still stole the show.

"They are dogs that have had a difficult trajectory, yes,” Madalena Spinazzola, from tournament sponsor PremieR Pet, said. “But what we want to point out is not the history suffered from the past, but to prove that no matter what they have gone through, they can be great companions today and in the future!"

So, the question is, how did the dogs do?

“I think they need to improve a little bit because if they put dogs in a real match... we will have a lot of let calls,” Demoliner said. “But I think it was really nice to do this thing today.”

If the ball dogs in Brazil weren’t enough for you, take the time to watch the canines who helped out Venus Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova a couple of years ago when the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand found "The Best Ball Boys in the World."